Into The Orchard

XVI

Rayan sat on his heels in the stands of a sports hall of questionable condition. He was completely absorbed by the boxing competition and paid practically no attention to what was going on around him. Of course, no one seemed to mind. Boxing was his passion so it was obvious that he would be excited about the competition. He talked to me and Elizabeth only during the short breaks that preceded the next fights. It reminded me a bit of the rules of dance competitions. Just a few minutes in the ring and there is the winner of the next round. Unlike dance competitions, boxing competitions were obviously not judged by jurors. Here, technique was only important in terms of fair play. I must admit that the place itself was atmospheric. The whole room was semi-dark, the stands around the sports hall were filled with fans. All this charm and climate, however, spoiled the large gaps in the windows, through which the sunlight penetrated. Personally, I had no idea what the rules were in these fights. Everything seemed to indicate, however, that the fight was over if, after ten seconds, the person knocked down did not rise to his feet, or if the referee decided that one of the opponents was no longer able to fight. Elizabeth seemed to be more familiar with the rules, because as I watched her out of the corner of my eye, she seemed to understand what was going on, unlike me. I mentioned earlier that Rayan didn't talk to us during the fights. However, that didn't stop him from making loud and clear comments about what was currently happening in the ring. Often, very often, he would spit juicy curses out of his mouth, grab his head, or just scream. At first I thought that he needed to be calmed down somehow, because he was embarrassing us among the other spectators. However, it quickly became apparent that Rayan was not an isolated incident. Most of the fans behaved along similar lines to the doberman. In this case, Elizabeth and I were figuratively speaking the raisins in the cake. No one likes raisins, everyone loves cake.

During the course of this tournament, I had already seen Randal and Alex in the ring several times. They did not fight against each other due to the fact that they were from the same boxing team, from the same school. However, I knew that if they both made it to the finals, they would have to fight each other. Before, as colleagues, they had no problem punching each other in the face. It was a sport, they were friends and the results of the competition never affected their relationship. That, however, had changed. Although Randal was not officially at war with Alex, the tiger had clearly chosen Rayan's company. Randal and Alex didn't go anywhere together anymore, and they didn't talk much to each other. The doberman's conflict with the kangaroo somehow forced Randal to choose one side. I can only speculate on how he must have felt in that situation. In my opinion, however, the boy did the right thing by cutting himself off from Alex. If only because of his progressive relationship with Elizabeth, where it was already known that they are officially a couple. Admittedly, they hadn't announced it, no decision on the matter had been made between them, but for God's sake... does anything really need to be said and determined in this situation? Well, my situation was completely different. In my situation, drawing a path, boundaries and the like was, in my opinion, necessary.

You see, before Rayan and I got in the car after school on our way to the boxing tournament in Kosev, a rather unusual fact had come to light the day before after all. Rayan had given up on the competition you might say...no. You have to say, you can't just have to. Rayan gave up this competition for me. It made me feel all the more like someone had pierced my heart with a lance. And now that I look at him and see how seriously important boxing is to him, I feel even more ashamed. But don't think to yourself that I'm going to be materialistic and because of what he did, I'm going to jump into his arms and we'll be a happy couple. It can't work that way. Not like that. Rayan's gesture is important and says a lot about what he cares about. Plus, Rayan still hasn't admitted that he's the reason Alex let my conversation with Desmond go online. What does that mean? It means that Rayan helped me and hurt himself without wanting anything in return. He just did it for me. Honestly, I don't know if I'd do the same thing if I were him. Given that we were at odds at the time, I'd probably still be driven by emotion. I can't even imagine what a dilemma that would be for me. Giving up your dreams for another person. I would have probably thought about it all day, and Rayan did it just like that. In the half hour or so since Alex had made the video public, Rayan had managed to view it, decide that he couldn't leave me alone with this, make an appointment with Alex, and drop out of the contest. That's how long it took him to selflessly help me, by which he is now at a loss. Thirty minutes. It was obvious now why he hadn't said anything about it. Rayan didn't want to give me any ultimatums, didn't want me to take his grand gesture on its own merits: "Look, I'm Rayan and I just quit a cunt competition that's important to me because of you. Now pull your pants down and be mine."